Busy thesp eyes starring role in haunted house pic for Legendary

While the deal is not completed, Stone is expected to sign up for the chiller that del Toro will direct.

Plot details are being kept under wraps as del Toro and Lucinda Coxon rewrite the original script penned by del Toro and Matthew Robbins.

Legendary will produce and be a participating financing partner on the movie, with Universal Pictures retaining an option to finance at a later date. The film is set to begin shooting in February 2014.

Haunted house pics have seen a resurgence in recent years after FilmDistrict’s “Insidious” and Paramount’s “Paranormal Activity” franchise hit big at the box office.

Jessica Chastain is following up her Oscar-nominated role in “Zero Dark Thirty” with Universal’s horror pic “Mama,” which bows this weekend and is also exec produced by del Toro.

New Line has “The Conjuring,” which stars Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson with James Wan directing. The studio is so high on the project that they have dated it to bow in the thick of the summer box office season on July 19.

Stone was most recently seen in Warner Bros. “Gangster Squad,” which opened last weekend and lends her voice to the DreamWorks Animation pic “The Croods.” She is also expected to start shooting Sony’s “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” sometime this year.